Misery Managed
by MonsieurGarrus
Summary: There's a new soul in Sleepy Hollow; one that Henry brought here himself. Is she aware of his plan or is there still time for Crane and Abbie to interfere? (Takes place a few episodes into Season 2 and then takes a life of its own)


ONE.

Red rolled off the cornerstone of Sleepy Hollow's Community Library, landing straight upon Dominique's white winter coat. She was meeting her blind date any moment on the bright green library garden's bench. She wrung her gloves with her hands as she glanced nervously across the street. There wasn't anyone else around and she began to think she arrived too early or worse even, that her date wasn't going to show. It wasn't until after the red drops became a steady stream did Dominique notice that it wasn't rain water falling upon her coat. Her hands froze as she looked to her shoulder and her eyes widened. She stiffened. It was too deep of a red to be rust from the above antique gable. Her brown eyes followed the stream up towards the edge of the roof where any further indication of its origin disappeared over the curve of the shingles. She managed to gain some composure as she stood from the garden bench and began to back up towards the street, unable to keep her eyes off the roof. Suddenly, there was a dark mass that moved just beyond the roof and seemed to dart to her right. She would have almost dismissed it as her paranoia but there was that sound. That sound of something heavy moving quickly…she could even hear the cracking of some of the antiqued wooden singles break under the thing's weight. She couldn't have made it up. She told herself in quick succession. It began to dart the other side of the roof. More Cracking. The library's large wind chime even crashed to the ground from the thing's thundering movements. When the chime hit the cobblestone sidewalk, Dominique turned upon her heels to run down the street. She didn't even know where she was quite going just anywhere. Anywhere from the creature on the roof.

She thought she got far enough away when there was a sudden crash behind her and she felt the sidewalk crack and shatter right behind her. The force knocked her forward off her feet and she held her hands out to aid her fall. Scampering to turn around to finally see what caused her to trip, a look of pure horror passed over her face. The creature was huge. Its hot breath steamed the air around them. The creature was not of this world. Its front claws slashed at her so quickly, she didn't even feel the majority of her blood poor upon the cobblestone. The creature was hungry.

-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-

The late winter kept the majority of people indoors, including Hawley who managed to find refuge in Sleepy Hollow's local coffee shop. Not only was it a place to keep warm but Hawley also found that the selection of available women happened to be plentiful during this time. Although there were a few ladies who kept looking in his direction, his main focus was a small slightly unoccupied table. Slightly as in only one man was seated there. Henry Parrish. Hawley was doing his best to keep cool and not act out of place so Henry wouldn't notice him. From what Hawley gathered, Henry had been there alone for about fifteen minutes now. If he didn't know who and what he really was, he'd have no idea that that charming old man who had been shuffling papers for the last five minutes was really the Horseman of War.

Nick managed to nonchalantly snap a picture and send it to Abbie in which she had already replied to keep an eye on him. Gah, Of course. What did she think he was going to do? Shake the man down or buy him a drink? Nick didn't mind meddling in the artifact market but direct confrontation with an actual monster was way out of his job description.

The café door chimed as a young woman who managed to catch his eye stepped through. She wasn't from Sleepy Hollow that much he could tell. Although he had no idea who she was, he felt a sense of familiarity with her. Her clothing was faded and seemed to be permanently covered with a thin level of dust. Something Hawley directly related to as his clothing was the same way. She held herself with a strong sense of confidence. She respectfully removed her hat as her eyes glanced around at all the different faces. It was Henry whose eyes widened and he stood from his seat with a polite nod to her. She nodded back in acknowledgement and weaved her way to him. She shook his hand which Nick raised a brow at. What exactly was going on here? He snapped another photo of the two of them formally greeting one another and sent it off to Abbie. A barista blocked his view for a moment as she offered a refill of his coffee which Nick gladly accepted. He was going to be here for awhile.

She began to sit down when Nick decided this would be the best time to avoid notice by Henry and change seats. Keeping his back to them as best he could, he managed to grab a seat at a single table just beyond theirs. As long as the café chatter didn't get too loud, he'd be able to hear most of their conversation.

"Ms. de la Rouerie, I'm pleased to see my letter got to you safely, I was worried with all the local uprising in your area it would never reach you." Henry tilted his head slightly as he smiled at her.

"Well, it pays to be kind to the locals."

As Nick observed, he noticed that it did appear they have never met before. What could the Horseman possibly be up to with her? When it involved him, it couldn't be good.

"Indeed, I would imagine so, my dear." He took a moment to pause and smile at her, as if taking in the fact she was actually there in front of him. Henry then opened the folder of papers in front of him and spread one of the sheets out before them. "I imagine you'd like to get to the point of my letter."

"Yes, it was quite vague. I haven't much to do with my family so I was completely taken back by what your letter spelt out."

With the café quieting down, Nick felt best to try his luck at getting what information he could to Abbie and Ichabod in the purest form possible. He sent a quick text to inform her he'd be calling her directly. She responded in record time. With the line now open, he muted the phone and did what he could to keep it as close to the other two as possible.

Henry chuckled politely, "That would explain why it took me so long to trace it down to you." He shuffled a few more papers about before scooting his chair closer. "I hope you don't mind that I get down to business, so to speak, as I'm aware your time is precious. A few years ago, a woman named Margaret de le Rouerie passed away. She had no children and was a widow for many years prior. She was thought to be the last direct bloodline of the de le Rouerie family until a contact of mine revealed your existence. So, with all that being said, my dear, I'm actually excited to say that you've inherited the de la Rouerie home and all the property that surrounds it…which seems to mainly be stables and a tulip garden." His excitement grew as he spoke as if he himself was inheriting the mansion.

"That's a lot to take in, but with my line of work I'm no stranger to things being too good to be true." She crossed her legs and cleared her throat, "Be honest with me, Mr-"

"Henry"

"…Mr. Henry. I'm a big girl, I can take it."She raised a curious brow.

"I'd bet that you are. The house well…needs a lot of tender loving care, my dear. Once Margaret died, the place was left as is. And not securely at all for that matter." He chuckled. "I've been inside just once and it has had plenty of intruders and most of the former owner's things have been stolen... I think they say it would be a 'fixer-upper'. "

"So, a property tax black hole."

"Or a rare opportunity to own part of Sleepy Hollow and your own family line's history. It is, after all, the house that General Washington gifted to Colonel Armand after Yorktown. Besides, Margaret was an excellent investor and has already paid off any property tax and utility bills for the next decade." Using this bit as his final persuasion, Henry removed a crisp stack of paperwork and set it facing her. Smiling to himself, he opened his jacket to remove his rather unique pen. "I'll just need one of your signatures here to accept the property." He turned the pen around to gracefully offer it to her. Its deceiving tip gleamed in the café's lighting giving it a treacherous appeal.

In the middle of sipping some tea, Cambria dismissed the pen offering politely and withdrew her own pen from her purse. For once during this whole encounter, Nick noticed a look of pure panic upon Henry's face. What did he miss? Did she say something to startle him? Was it about the pen? He tried to whisper into the phone that something was not going according to Henry's plan but, wasn't quite sure they were unable to hear it on the other line. No bother. He was certain he'd have to re-enact it all later.

"Uh, the paper has a unique gloss to it; my pen might work out better for you…"

Her own pen hovered over the signature line as she looked up to him as if considering swapping pens. Then she laughed and sat back up, "What was I thinking? Before I sign anything, I'd like to see the property."

Slightly frustrated, Henry bit his lip and then nodded, forcing a smile. "Yes, yes of course."


End file.
